Give Me Love
by OneDirectionOrDiex3
Summary: Zayn is ready to leave America and finally have some time to relax back in London. But then he meets Ariana on the plane. She's sweet, interesting, and way different then any other girl he's ever met. Will Ariana be the one to help Zayn finally get over Perrie, or will it only cause him more heart ache? Disclaimer: All 1D boys involved. I am in no way affiliated with any of them!
1. Chapter 1

I watched as my so-called boyfriend very obviously checked out a girl who was jogging through the park wearing only yoga shorts and a sports bra. Slut, I thought to myself angrily, glaring at the bleach blonde. After two years of being together, you would think that he would be a little bit more considerate of my feelings, especially considering I was leaving to go to college in London in less than two short weeks.

"Joey!" I snapped, slapping his arm.

"What?" he snapped back, but not because he felt bad about being caught, he was_ annoyed_ I had realized he was mentally rating that girl from 1-10. He never used to be like this. How was I supposed to trust him from across the sea if he couldn't even keep his eyes off girls while I sat right next to him?

"You said you wanted to make the long distance thing work, didn't you? Or are you going back on that too?" I hissed, suddenly extremely mad. I had so much to worry about with all the things involved with completely moving from comfy and warm Miami, Florida, all the way across the ocean to London. I didn't need to add boyfriend troubles to that list.

"Yeah baby, of course I do." He muttered twisting in his spot to place kisses on my collarbones. I pushed his scruffy blond hair away.

"No, I need a serious answer, Joey. This is going to be really hard, you have to promise me you'll be faithful and really try."

"Ariana Rose, I promise you I will try as hard as I possibly can to keep our relationship strong while you're in London." His brown eyes were so sincere, his voice so sweet, I couldn't help but believe him. But now I wish I hadn't. If I could go back in time, there's a lot I would change.

_***2 weeks later***_

"I'm seriously going to miss you all more than you can ever imagine. You'll come visit me all the time right?" I gushed, hugging my friends and family one last time before I boarded my flight to London and my new life. I placed a final kiss on Joey's lips before picking up my bag and walking through the terminal.

**Zayn's POV**

I sat in the plush seats of the plane, waiting to be taken back to London. I'd stayed in America a bit longer than the other boys to visit some friends, but I was now ready to be back home. And sleep for ages. Pulling my Beats over my ears, and let young Michael Jackson soothe me as my eyes drifted shut. I was nearly asleep when a sweet scent suddenly filled my nose. It was an odd mixture of flowers and vanilla. It was intoxicating to me and caught my attention immediately. It reminded me of… well never mind. I opened my eyes, looking for the source of the smell. A girl who looked around my age was shoving her bag in the overhead compartment, her tan, toned stomach hanging over me. It seemed like she felt my gaze and turned to meet my eyes.

"Sorry?" I said, taking my headphones off. She'd spoken but my music had drowned her out.

"I apologized." She said in a soft voice. American, probably just graduated and going on a trip to London, paid for by her rich family, judging by the quality of her clothes, before she went to college. "You looked like you'd been resting; I didn't mean to bother you."

"Oh, it's fine babe. I can't sleep well on planes anyway." I lied. I could sleep anywhere.

"Oh okay. Well I'm sorry I disturbed you anyhow."

"No worries." I insisted. "So you're going to London then?"

"Yes, for college. Full scholarship." She grinned, proud. "I'm going to stay with one of my friends who I met through Twitter." She explained. Hmm, I'd been wrong. Never judge a book by its cover I guess. "Call me crazy, I know, but we have met once, when I went to visit the university. She's not a crazy stalker." She laughed a light breezy laugh, flipping a strand of dark brown hair off her shoulder.

"You're not crazy." I laughed. "But if I see your face on the news one day because you've gone missing, I'll know why."

"Oh gee, thanks for that." She smirked, the corners of her eyes turning up. She was a dark beauty—dark hair, tanned skin, but then you got to her eyes. She had the brightest green eyes I'd ever seen; they were like glistening emeralds. She had an exotic look about her that intrigued me. She was mesmerizing to look at, though I hadn't really looked at a girl, or even considered it, since my very public breakup with Perrie in March. I flinched automatically when I thought about it. I'd been heartbroken and, if I'm being honest with myself, I'm still not over it. I truly did love her and she'd made me so happy, but the relationship had reached its end, she simply wasn't the one. I flirted with American girls whilst on tour to show the boys I was fine, but I wasn't, and none of those girls left any mark on me.

"I didn't catch your name, what is it?" I asked after the flight attendant had announced that we would be lifting off soon.

"Ariana." She grinned. She didn't ask for my name in return, instead she looked at me expectantly, implying with her eyes that was what she wanted.

"I'm Zayn." I said awkwardly, hoping I'd been interpreting right. Also not used to people _not_ knowing my name right away.

"Oh wow. That's so unique! I've never really heard it before except for a few times on the news when they were talking about some celebrity, but I've never been interested much in celebrity gossip."

"Thanks." I chuckled. I wondered if she was being serious, did she really not know who I was? One Direction billboards were plastered in every city we'd been to on tour, and even some we hadn't. I know my breakup with Perrie had been in everything from TeenBop, to Teen Vogue, to the New York Times. "So you don't really watch like, any talk shows then?"

"Not really. I've always been really active with sports, so I didn't have much time anyway. And I don't think that the life of a celebrity is any of my business, they can do whatever they like. Actually, they do, do whatever they like, just like normal people, but they're judged more harshly since it's publicized, which I don't think is fair."

I nodded. She was definitely being serious. By now, any other girl I'd sit next to would be asking for a picture or an autograph or something. She seemed sincere. And I honestly think that a follow on Twitter wouldn't mean anything to her. The rest of the plane ride was spent passing easy jokes between one another and Ariana telling me about her life. She was the oldest of five in her family, the daughter of two doctors, and a lacrosse, field hockey, and volleyball player, as well as a dancer, which explained her rocking body. She lived a normal life and graduated with honors and a boyfriend of two years. She was so different then I was. She was… normal. Not in a bad way. But in a way that I wasn't when I was in school and now I could never be because of my fame.

The plane ride ended quickly, Ariana's head resting on my shoulder as she breathed in deeply and slowly. I shook her lightly, trying to wake her.

"Huh?" she muttered, her eyes fluttering open.

"We're here now." I whispered, trying to startle her.

"Really? That was fast! I can't believe I'm actually here in London and I'm going to be living here now. This is insane!" she jumped up and babbled on, not affected by sleep like I would have been. I chuckled and handed her the bag from overhead compartment. "Thanks." She grinned happily, before it turned a little sheepish. "So Zayn, I know I just met you and all, but you seem really nice and sweet and not a crazy stalker so would you maybe be willing to give me a ride to Camila's house? I don't think I have enough money on me to pay for a taxi and frankly taxis scare me. I would owe you forever! I'll be your best friend please please please!" she talked quickly, a hopeful glint in her eyes. I wanted to give her a ride, I really did. But I knew the second I stepped off the plane I would be bombarded by fans. I had neatly avoided any mention of being famous for the entire journey, but if I gave her a ride, she would obviously figure it out. I looked back at her. Her emerald eyes shone hopefully and her smile was wide and warm. I sighed, I couldn't say no to that.

"Sure I guess. But there's something I should probably tell you first." I hesitated, glancing into her eyes to judge how she would react. "Remember how you said you heard the name Zayn before? Zayn Malik, that's me. I'm part of a band called One Direction."

"One… Wait, I think I've heard of you guys before. I know I have a few of your songs on my iPod. Wow, that's incredible! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, you're one of the first girls I've been able to talk to who hasn't known me for my fame and judged me as the celebrity I am. It was nice for a change." I sighed, knowing this occurrence was rare and probably wouldn't happen again.

"That's silly." She giggled. "I wouldn't have judged you for being a celebrity. I don't like judging people at all actually. But why did you need to tell me this before we got off the plane?"

"Well, as soon as we walk off, we will be surrounded by teenage girls screaming for me, and probably at you since you'll be with me. I just wanted you to be prepared. I'll text my body guard to let him know that you'll be coming with me, so he won't let anything happen to you."

"I trust you or your bodyguard won't let anything happen to me. And I can deal with the screaming, I have three sisters and a brother." She grinned confidently. I didn't think she truly knew what was about to come, but I didn't have much longer to wait. The flight attendant was eyeing us with annoyed eyes, we were the last ones on the plane.

"Okay, let's go." I sighed after I sent a quick text to Paul. Just as I suspected, as soon as we were out in the lobby I was blinded by bright flashes and deafened by girl's screaming. I turned to look at Ariana and was surprised by her expression. She didn't seem bothered by any of it. Her face was tranquil, with nothing but a bit of curiosity alight in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the exit, Paul gently pushing girls out of the way. Thankfully, we didn't have to stop to get any luggage because Paul had gotten mine already and Ariana's had been shipped over ahead of time to Camila's place.

We reached outside only to be surrounded by another small crowd of girls. They were much quieter and calmer than the others inside had been, so I stopped to chat with them for a bit and took some pictures. Some asked Ariana who she was, and she calmly explained she'd met me on the plane and I was giving her a ride. A few even asked to get pictures with the both of us. I heard one whisper excitedly to another "She's gorgeous. They'll be dating in less than a month, and we'll have a picture with both of them." Her friend giggled and quickly asked for one too. Finally, Paul insisted that we leave, the crowd was multiplying and the newcomers weren't as calm. We headed toward my car, Ariana sliding in without hesitation. She seemed like a fearless kind of girl, one who did pause over little things like other girls I knew. Ariana gave me Camila's address, which I typed into the GPS, and we were off. Ariana sat with her back against the door, knees pulled up to her chest, and her head resting on her knees. I glanced over at a stoplight and realized she wasn't wearing any makeup. A natural beauty, something I'd always admired. Nothing like the tons of celebrity girls who got thrown at me at after parties and such.

"Is this the new iPhone?!" Ariana gasped, grabbing my phone out of the cup holder where I set it down. "This isn't supposed to come out for like another two months!"

"Well, me and the boys, Louis, Liam, Niall, and Harry, my band mates, are sort of promoting it. We got one of the first ones." I answered, embarrassed. Sure, it was cool, but I didn't want Ariana to think I used my fame to get cool stuff.

"Wow that's awesome! Can I check it out?" Her voice inflected none of the judgment I'd been worried about.

"Sure," I nodded. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she took pictures of herself using the new and improved front camera. She clicked around on the phone, pursing her lips when some new feature confused her, but grinning when she figured it out.

She set the phone back where it was. "That is so cool. I can't wait 'til I can get mine."

All too soon we reached Camila's house. I was a bit sad to see her go, but she promised we'd see each other again. She gave me a hug and waved, just as a thin girl with long brown hair hurried out the door, a huge grin plastered on her face, and ran straight at Ariana. I waved back and sped off. The drive home was long, I'd really gone out of my way, and it was late, and I had to get up early for a meeting with the boys and our label. I sighed, pushing my hair back with my hand. I had absolutely no regrets though. Ariana was extremely cool and I really hoped she'd keep her promise and we would see each other again.

Just before I was about to fall asleep I went to send a quick text to Harry. While scrolling down my contact list I noticed Ariana had put her contact information on my phone with one of her goofy pictures. She put a bunch of different emoji's next to her name. I chuckled to myself, I'd just met her, but it fit her personality well. For the first time in a long time, I went to sleep smiling, anticipating texting Ariana tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ariana's POV**

I woke up early the next morning, the sun filtering through the window of my new room. I was sprawled across an itchy mattress with only my Pooh Bear blanket from when I was a child wrapped around me. After Camila and I had talked for ages about how excited we were to live together, I'd been more than ready to crash, far too exhausted to search through my boxes for my bedding. I crawled out of bed and into the shower in the bathroom I would have to share with Camila, the only bad part of this living situation. I let the hot water wake me up and unstick my body from the long flight yesterday. When I was done showering I dressed in the first outfit I could find, which happened to be my favorite skinny jeans and a floral crop top, and padded to the kitchen in my fuzzy socks. I sat at the counter, combing my hair, while Camila started making eggs.

"So I never did ask you last night, but who gave you a ride?" Camila asked, her back turned to me while she stirred the eggs.

"Zayn, I met him on the plane." I answered.

"Zayn Malik."

"Yes." I said, though her tone didn't make it seem like a question, but I answered anyway.

"Have you logged onto Twitter this morning?" She asked, turning to me. Her eyes an odd mixture of amusement and concern. I pursed my lips, confused.

"Nope, not since yesterday. Why?" Instead of answering she turned to grab her laptop off the counter. She typed something in quickly and turned the screen to face me. The screen showed Zayn's tweet, well my tweet on his account. "Zayn's such a sweetheart. Thanks for the ride love. Xox arianarose24" it said, with one of the selfies I took attached to it. I glanced down below the tweets to the replies. Some were quite nasty with inappropriate language and remarks. Some were very nice compliments. Most were all capitalized tweets questioning who I was and why I was with Zayn. Just as I was reading a particularly nasty one I heard my phone ringing in my room. I hurried up to get it, pushing the mean words out of my head. They didn't know me, they had no right not to like me.

"Hello?" I answered the unfamiliar UK number. I heard Camila coming into the room behind me.

"Hey Ariana, it's Zayn." His voice was low and quiet like he was trying not to be overheard, I distantly heard the sounds of cars through the receiver.

"Oh hey Zayn. Listen, I'm really sorry about what I tweeted. I didn't know it would upset your fans so much. I should have asked you if it was okay first." I gushed my apology. What if the fans got mad at him? I felt so bad.

"What?" he spoke after a minute of silence. "You're apologizing… to me..?"

"Yes, of course, it's my fault. I feel so bad. How can I fix it?"

Zayn hesitated for a second before I heard his burst of laughter. It sounded surprised but relieved. I raised my eyes at Cam who had been listening intently to my end of the conversation. She gave me a questioning look. "What's funny?" I asked, miffed by his sudden amusement.

"I was so worried you would be upset by the comments some of them were making. They can be pretty harsh."

"Oh, no. I mean, yes, some of them were quite rude, but they don't know me at all, so their words don't mean anything to me." I assured him.

"I'm glad you think like that." He muttered quietly. Then he spoke louder. "I'm really relieved you weren't upset by them. Most of our fans mean no harm, they're just a tad over emotional. And you did nothing wrong, you aren't used to hanging out with a celebrity." He chuckled. "But I have to go. I was at a meeting with the boys when I saw all the tweets. I kind of ran out to call you when I saw them, they're a bit pissed. So I'll text you later then," he paused before hurriedly adding "if that's okay?"

"Of course you can text me later. Apologize to your friends for me as well. Talk to you later then Zayn!" I said, hanging up the phone and setting it back down on the bedside table. Camila looked at me with questioning eyes. I explained what Zayn said, the part of the conversation she couldn't hear.

"I think he likes you." Camila said as we headed back to the kitchen. She turned the burner of the stove back on to finish the eggs. I rolled my eyes. Camila was a hopeless romantic. She tended to over exaggerate relationships. Three years ago, about a year after we had met on Twitter, she'd made the mistake of thinking her first, extremely attractive, young boss had been totally in love with her. When she tried to basically seduce him after work one day, she'd been fired. I still remember her Skyping me as she tearfully voiced the story.

"Camz, we just met yesterday. Don't get ahead of yourself. Plus, I have a boyfriend." I said calmly, sipping my orange juice.

"He was worried about your feelings. Clearly he already cares about you." She argued. She poured some scrambled eggs onto the plate in front of me and handed me a fork. "And I know that he is single. He's been single for months."

"He's a sweet guy, I'm sure he'd do the same thing if it'd been you, or any other girl, or boy, for that matter."

"Whatever." She clucked, not believing me. "But since I am single, if you don't want him, I'll take him."

I rolled my eyes again, but couldn't help but grin at her hopeful expression. "I'll see what I can do."

**Zayn's POV**

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and ran back inside. The door slammed shut loudly behind me as the people sitting around the table all looked up to glare at me. "Sorry," I muttered, taking my seat next to Harry.

"What was that?" Harry muttered to me under his breath as Simon and our sound manager started discussing when to start recording our next album.

"Long story, I'll explain after." I whispered back. I tried to pay attention to what everyone was saying but the words ended up blurring together as my head was overtaken with thoughts of Ariana. I would think she would be upset. Perrie, Eleanor, Danielle, they'd been upset over even the smallest of angry tweets about them, even after being with us for a while. They were quite good about hiding it, but it was easy to tell how truly upset they were by it. Ariana clearly wasn't upset. She was worried, for me. No, she was worried she'd upset the fans that had been insulting her. I tried to think of a logical explanation for this. After ten minutes the only logical conclusion I could come up with was that she was strong, confident, and different. Confident enough to realize what those girls were saying was untrue and meant nothing. Strong enough to look past the insults and not worry about them. And different because I'd never met anyone who would feel sorry for upsetting someone who was insulting them without even knowing them. I shook my head. This girl was incredible.

An hour later, the meeting was finished, and I held a copy of my schedule for the next six months firmly in my hand. I grabbed my leather jacket off the chair and started to head out. A large hand placed on my shoulder stopped me.

"I'm still waiting on that story." Harry said, lifting his hand and matching pace with me as we walked outside. He was coming back to my place to watch a football game that was on anyway, so there was no way I'd be able to get out of telling him. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him because I didn't trust him or something like that. There wasn't really anything secret about it anyway, except for one thing. I wanted to keep Ariana to myself. I sounded selfish and kind of crazy, especially considering that I only met her yesterday. There was just something about her. I wanted to get to know her by myself. Liam and Louis both had their girlfriends that they'd been dating for ages, but Harry was a definite babe magnet and Niall's sweet innocence attracted girls like bees to honey. I was worried they might realize how awesome she was and try to steal her away. I sighed. I was being ridiculous. I had no right to even think I had any claim over her. I barely knew the girl for God's sake. I needed help. I pushed a hand through my hair and got into my car. Harry slid into the passenger side, looking at me in anticipation. I sighed again. As I drove, I told the story of how I'd met Ariana on the plane, given her a ride home, and the tweet problems that had come up today.

"Is she fit?" Harry asked immediately after my story was finished.

I groaned. "Yes." I admitted. We were at my place by now. I unlocked the door and handed him my phone, the pictures she took of herself on the screen.

"Damn, damn, holy shit, damn." He commented on each one, his eyes widening. "She's totally sexy."

"Don't even think about it." I warned him, trying to keep my voice light, but slipping a bit. "She has a boyfriend named Jason back in America she's doing a long distance thing with."

"Challenge accepted." Harry said confidently. He strode into the kitchen, his shoulders back.

"Harry, don't try it." I moaned.

"Bro, her boyfriend is an ocean away. She's bound to get a little lonely." He said as he rummaged through my fridge. "Besides, football has a goalie, but that doesn't mean you can't score."

I muttered angrily under my breath, snatching a water bottle from the fridge and treading furiously into the living room. I knew he would be interested in her. She's totally perfect. He hadn't even met her yet. I flipped the game on and sulked silently, glaring at the T.V. Halfway through, my phone started buzzing on the coffee table.

"Hello?" I answered instantaneously when I saw the name and picture on my display.

"Hey!" her voice was light and breezy, effortlessly happy.

"What's up?"

"Well, Camila and I are bored. We're not quite bored enough to start unpacking my things, but we're bored. We were wondering if you'd be so kind as to entertain us for the afternoon. I mean, besides Camz, you're my only friend in England right now and Cam is claiming all of her friends are busy."

Harry, having heard part of the conversation, wiggled his eyebrows and nodded eagerly. "Invite her over!" he mouthed.

I was again worried that Harry would steal her before I even had a chance but I did want to hang out with her. And there was really no way of getting rid of Harry nicely or without mentioning the fact that I was going crazy over a girl I met less than 24 hours ago.

"Well, Harry's at my place watching the football game, you guys can come join if you want." I offered, half grudging, half excited.

"That sounds perfect. Anything's better than unpacking dozens of boxes and organizing them. Text me your address. See you in a bit!" she hung up. Harry grinned mischievously at me, a determined glint in his eyes. Once Harry targeted a girl, he was determined. He always got what he wanted. I'd always been slightly envious of that but now I resented it. Between Harry and Jason I wouldn't get a chance to even just be friends with Ariana.


	3. Chapter 3

**Zayn's POV**

After texting Ariana my address, I quickly ran upstairs to change my clothes and brush my teeth. I was debating whether or not to put my contacts in and gel my hair well the doorbell rang.

"I've got it!" Harry yelled excitedly. I sprinted down the steps, taking two at a time. Thankfully I reached the door before him, and I swung it open. Ariana and Camila stood on my porch. My eyes bugged out as took in Ariana's out. Her skin tight crop top and skinny jeans left little to the imagination. Her toned stomach visible, glinting with a belly ring. I attempted to control my expression as Harry reached the door. He let out a low whistle when he reached my side, following my gaze. To help control myself, I turned to look at Camila. She was dressed in a loose fitting dress, a huge matching bow on her head. Though she was pretty and slim, she was nothing compared to the gorgeous, fit, being that stood next to her, in my eyes anyway. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I couldn't think like this. I'd just met her. She had a boyfriend. Just friends. First anyways. I didn't want to just use her as a rebound for Perrie.

"Come on in guys." I muttered, opening the door wider. They stepped in, Camila shutting the door behind her.

"Wow, this place is awesome." Ariana murmured, leading the way through my house. She walked through the kitchen, trailing her hand on the marble counter as we followed like ducklings behind her. "Do you live here by yourself?"

"Yeah." I answered. "But…"

Harry cut me off "He doesn't get lonely. I'm with him most of the time anyway. Or we're on tour. Or recording. Something new every day."

"That's good." She grinned at me before turning back to Harry. "I'm sorry, but what's your name?"

Harry looked taken aback and almost offended. He looked at me, I simply shrugged. "I'm Harry, Harry Styles."

"Oh right. You're in that band with Zayn! One Direction, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one…" Harry's shock was not masked in his voice. I wasn't kidding when I said everyone knew who we were. Most people spend a lot of their time reading about celebrities on the internet ot listening to the newest stories about them on T.V.

"That's really cool. I've heard some of your songs, but you guys should sing for me sometimes. I've always wanted to be a singer. I'm so jealous of you." She babbled happily, now leading our party into the living room. Harry sat on one of the smaller couches, while Camila sat on the larger one. Without hesitation-of course not, this girl never pauses for a second- Ariana took the seat next to Harry, who was shamelessly elated by the fact. He winked at me, cocky as ever. I was forced to take a seat next to Camila. Not that I minded. It was fine that Harry and Ariana were sitting together, so close their thighs were touching. No big deal. I ground my teeth together.

"Are you okay?" Camila asked, her brown eyes wide in concern. Clearly I had let my agitation appear on my face. I gave Ariana one last glance. She was already completely, animatedly, immersed in a conversation with Harry. It sounded to me like they were talking about cats. Ironic.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." I turned back to Camila, grinning. She grinned shyly back. "So what do you do for a living?" I asked, interested, but not fully. My ears still perked to Harry and Ariana's conversation. Ariana was telling a story about a cat she had named Pumpkin, giggling the whole way. I reminded myself she had a boyfriend. She was just being friendly with Harry. She was naturally bubbly and giggly. I forced myself to shut my ears to them and pay strict attention to Camila telling me how she was a secretary at a law firm and hoped she'd eventually become a paralegal.

Two hours later and there had been little interaction between the two pairs. Though I'd liked Camila; she was sweet and quiet, I would have rather been talking with Ariana who was now laughing hysterically, her head thrown back carelessly, at some joke Harry was telling. I tried not to notice how her legs now rested haphazardly across Harry's, their bodies angled towards each other.

"Have you talked to Jason since you've gotten here?" I asked Ariana, unable to contain myself. I bit my tongue afterwards, instantly regretting it.

"Yeah. For a bit." She answered easily. I neatly dodged the glare Harry was sending my way. "We Skyped for a little this morning but he said he had plans, which loosely translates to: he wanted to game." She rolled her eyes.

"Ahh.." I said, before lapsing into silence.

"Zayn… Zayn… Zayn!" Camila said, waving her hands in front of my face.

"Huh?" I asked, breaking my trance.

"Ariana and I are leaving." She said, giving me a confused look. I sighed. She'd been here for two hours and I'd hardly gotten to talk to her at all.

"Really? So soon?"

"Yeah, I have work tomorrow. And Ariana does have to start unpacking some of her things. So we better go."

"Well I'll see you later then." Camila and I exchanged an awkward hug while we waited for Harry and Ariana to exchange numbers. They hugged as well, much less awkwardly then Camila and I, before coming over me and and giving me a tight squeeze.

"This was fun!" Ariana said happily, "We'll have to hang out again sometime!"

"Definitely!" Harry said, before I could respond. I clenched my fist.

"See you later guys." I waved as the left the house.

"Wow, she's amazing." Harry sighed when the door shut behind her. "And she told me a secret."

"What?" I asked quickly. How had Harry gotten so lucky?

"It's about you. I can't tell you." He grinned evilly.

"Oh Harry, come on. You have to tell me now." I groaned, annoyed. Harry was a very good secret keeper, that's why everyone went to him when they needed to talk to someone.

"Nope!" he smirked, popping the p. "You'll figure it out sooner or later."

I moaned. I couldn't help the happy fantasies that ran through my head. Maybe she was interested in me too, just a little bit. Maybe she was going to break up with Jason. It probably was nothing like that, but, hey, a guy can dream.

**Ariana's POV**

"That was fun." Camila said as we were driving home.

"It was." I agreed. "Did you have fun with Zayn?" I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Yes. Most of the time. He's really sweet and funny, but he seemed really distracted."

"Maybe he was just tired or something." I offered. Camila worried a lot. She was probably thinking Zayn thought she was boring. She was definitely the opposite of boring, that was for sure.

"Maybe. What's Harry like? I didn't get to talk to him much."

"Oh my gosh. He's so funny. He's probably the most hilarious person I've ever met. He's so genuine too, like he really cares what you have to say."

"He seems great. Even better than Jason…" Camila said hopefully. She didn't like Jason. She knew how much he'd changed me. I met Camila online in the ninth grade and I started dating Jason in eleventh grade. The other boyfriends I'd had made me happy all the time, and when they didn't I broke up with them. But Camila noticed that I wasn't as happy as I had been with the others once I started dating Jason. I was anxious, always worried he would leave me. He often made remarks that I assumed he meant jokingly but they always cut deep. I didn't break up with him though. I had an attachment to him. It made sense though. He was the most popular boy at my high school, who would want to lose that. So I put up with his jokes/insults and the anxiety of losing him. But it did change how I was. I became extremely depressed. I was very good at hiding it, but Camila was my absolute best friend and even though at the time we'd never met in person at that time, she figured it out. She begged me to break up with him, but I couldn't do it. I knew I should, but I couldn't. Sure, I'd said I would multiple times, but I never did it. I just couldn't.

I was a lot better now than I was at the beginning. I rubbed absently at my left forearm, remember the scars that had crisscrossed their way from my wrist to my elbow. I shivered as I remembered. That had been the lowest point of my life. I would never go back. I still had some depressed episodes where I lose my cool and cheerful façade, but most of the time I'm able to push bad things away. A smile can tell a thousand words, and also a thousand lies.

"No Camila, it's not going to happen." My tone rang with finality. I knew she cared about me and that's the only reason she brought it up, but I was very touchy to the subject and she knew that.

"Ari… I really think that you should just consider it. I mean, now you have an ocean separating you. The time difference and your classes are going to make it really hard for you to talk. You're hardly ever gonna see each other, maybe twice a year at holidays or something like that."

"We're not talking about this Camila. I'm not breaking up with Jason." I glared out the window just as rain started to drizzle down. Lovely. I thought as my bad mood worsened. I'd been doing so good with not slipping into this. I turned up the radio until it was blasting, signaling to Camila I wasn't going to talk about it anymore. I let the pounding beats flow through my head, dulling my mind. The long drive home was spent with silence besides the blaring radio.

By the time we were back at the house I was happy to find that I was almost completely over my fit. I was able to push all the gloomy thoughts deep, deep, down. I would deal with them later.

"Camz, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have flipped out like that on you." I apologized, frowning. I was disappointed in my actions. I tried to be, or appear to be, a very positive person all the time.

"Aw Ar, don't be upset. I'm really sorry too. It was wrong of me to even bring it up. I know how it is with you two." She gave me a reassuring hug. I squeezed her back tightly. I was so lucky to have her as a best friend and now as a roommate, I knew she would always be there for me and I was so grateful. Our display of affection had taken place outside, and it happened to be pouring. We were soaking wet as we trudged through the doors, laughing at our wetness.

Hours later and I had almost all my things unpacked. I was sitting on my made bed, looking around my room. I even put my twinkle lights from home up around the walls. I stared at one of the pale pink walls, letting the bad thoughts from earlier surface in my head. I let the tears flow silently down my cheeks. What would happen if Jason did leave me? What would I do? How would I survive? I wished I knew why I felt so unhappy with Jason. It wasn't all the time. When we were together and he was being nice it was the best. But now we were apart, an ocean apart as Camila had reminded me, and I didn't know what was going to happen. Her words earlier in the car had brought up all the worries I had been suppressing for months, ever since I decided to move to London. It was insane that I felt this way, but I didn't know how to control it. I ran a hand through my hair, letting it fall slowly around my face. The strands brushing against my cheeks comforted me, reminding me of the time when I was little and my mom would play with my hair until I fell asleep.

I told myself I would never shed another tear over Jason. I needed to get in control of my emotions for him. If we did break up, I cringed at even thinking out it, I would deal with it when I came to it. I would be strong, I had to be.


End file.
